Industry is booming in Jeff Davis Parish and future growth is poised to explode as evidenced by a tour of the rapidly expanding South Louisiana Rail Facility in Lacassine.

State economic development and agriculture leaders, along with local elected officials got a firsthand look at current industries and got a sneak peak of new businesses expected to locate within the industrial site and areas surrounding the park.

“Jeff Davis Parish has a lot going on in it and we are proud of it, just as we are of our state,” Ronnie Petree, chairman of the Jeff Davis Parish Economic Development Board said.

The rice and agriculture industry has always been the leading industry for the parish, but Petree said new opportunities are opening as the parish attempts to attract a diverse array of new industries to the parish.

Industrial sites, located in the industrial park, further enhance the parish’s appeal for industrial and business development.

Ice Industries, a solar panel manufacturing facility, is among the newest park tenants. The Ohio-based company is investing $3 million to renovate the former Zagis USA cotton spinning mill to produce roll forming steel back rails for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.

The industrial park is also home to a variety of businesses with long-term leases including a Progressive Tractor dealership, the South Louisiana Rail Facility and the nearby Bayou Rum facilities.

Most recently the complex has become the hub for industrial development with the opening of Evonik, a global leader in catalysts and speciality chemical vital to local industries, Quanta Technologies, innovators in industrial products and services; Rail Logix, a leader provider of rail services and logistics and the Lacassine Operating Company, a logistics company specialized in dry bulk materials and liquids.

More than 600 acres in Louisiana Economic Development certified sites are also available for development on nearby U.S. 90, as well as parcels of land located between U.S. 165 and La. 101 in the Lacassine and Iowa area for future development, according to Jeff Davis Parish Economic Development Director Creed Romano.

“We have the potential to see great things happen here,” Romano said. “Not only in Lacassine, but we have so much going on in other parts of our parish, including the new service road opening in Welsh.”

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain said there is continued interest in future expansion in and surrounding the industrial park which includes land, buildings, warehouses and access to transportation.

“The focus is for that facility to continue to grow and develop,” Strain said. “We have a number of very good strategic partners all working together to grow our industrial base. The bottom line is the world needs our products and we need to move the products in and out and that facility is perfectly, strategically located to do that.”

Louisiana Agriculture Finance Authority member Nicholas Cole said many of the current industries, including Lacassine Operating Company, are looking to expand acreage within the industrial park. Others are looking to locate within the site.

Among the potential future tenants is Riviera Foods, which wants to ship rough rice by rail and truck and Edge Entergy wants to transport yellow ore in by rail and out by truck.

Another company is looking to lease five acres of land for a cryptocurrency data storage warehouse and Modern Mill of Mississippi wants to utilize local rice hulls to make sustainable building materials.

A $400,0000 LA Compete Grant Program provided by the Louisiana Economic Development through the Southwest LA Economic Development Alliance will allow the paving of the Bob Odom Parkway leading into the industrial park.